Cop accused of faking shooting offered deal

$72,000 payment would let officer collect retirement.

$72,000 payment would let officer collect retirement.

December 27, 2005

FLINT, Mich. (AP) -- The city has offered a police officer $72,000 to leave the force. The officer is accused of staging his own shooting. Investigators concluded Harlon D. Green was shot with his own gun Feb. 26, 2004, in Flint. The Police Department has since taken Green off patrol duty and has refused to allow him to carry a gun, according to Genesee County Circuit Court records. The City Council approved a settlement that would pay Green $72,000 in back pay and sick and annual time. The 20-year veteran of the force then would be able to use $41,000 of the settlement to buy 36 months of service credits and retire Jan. 1. Attorney Norbert Leonard, who is representing Green for the Flint Police Officers Association, told The Flint Journal for a story published Friday that no deal has been finalized. Mayor Don Williamson declined comment on the case. Green suffered minor injuries when gunshots hit his bullet-resistant vest. He told investigators he was shot by a man in a white Monte Carlo that he had stopped because it had no license plate. The gun used to shoot Green later was found and turned out to be registered to Green. He said the gun was stolen from him in 2002 but couldn't explain why the shooter had it, according to the court files. Green left a police interview after investigators suggested he and his girlfriend staged the shooting. No charges were filed, but Green was suspended for 29 days for walking out of the interview. When Green returned to work, the department reassigned him to a position sorting files. Police union President Keith Speer said Green should be back on patrol if he isn't charged with a crime.